mental floss presents Forbidden Knowledge: A Wickedly Smart Guide to History's Naughtiest Bits

Cover Image......Page 1
Title Page......Page 3
Contents......Page 5
Introduction......Page 7
Pride......Page 9
Utopian Communities (That Bombed Miserably)......Page 10
Dictator Grooming Tips......Page 12
Pampered Celebrities......Page 14
Greatest Hoaxes of All Time......Page 16
Mandatory Fashion Trends......Page 18
Writers Who Fancied Themselves Peerless......Page 20
Artists Who Were Full of Themselves......Page 22
Secret Societies That Ain’t All That Secret......Page 24
Worst Miscalculations......Page 26
Insane Soviet Projects......Page 29
Bodies That’ve Never Been Found......Page 32
Structures Built as Symbols of National Pride......Page 34
World Leaders Obsessed with Their Own Images......Page 35
Recent Cases Where Diversity Would Have Helped......Page 37
Individuals Who Taught Us How to Sing the Blues......Page 40
The Secret Lives of Civil Activists......Page 42
Famous Bastards Who Made Their Mark......Page 44
The Dish on National Anthems......Page 47
Ignominious Things Named for Napoléon Bonaparte......Page 49
Mortals with Minor God Complexes......Page 52
Greed......Page 55
Things You Didn’t Know about the Lottery......Page 56
Kings Who Moved Their Entire Households into the Afterlife......Page 57
Great Sports Scams, Scandals, and Hoaxes......Page 60
Lifestyles of the Rich and Infamous......Page 63
Figures Who Supposedly Sold Their Souls......Page 66
Religious Evangelists Who Received Until It Hurt......Page 67
Shameful Cases of False Advertising......Page 69
Leaders Who Spent Their Countries into the Ground for Fun......Page 71
Celebrity Thieves......Page 73
Greatest Art Heists and Scams of All Time......Page 75
Historical Tattletales and $nitches......Page 77
of the Worst Perpetrators of Corruption......Page 79
Great Bank Robberies......Page 81
Failed Attempts to Loot Las Vegas......Page 83
Really Bad Historical Trades......Page 85
Generals Who Switched Sides in the Hopes of Reward......Page 86
Double-crossing Agents (and the Countries That Paid Them)......Page 89
History’s Most Blatant Land Grabs......Page 91
Shady Business Moguls and What They Did with Their Money......Page 93
Marauders to Know......Page 96
Lust......Page 99
Famous Scientists Who Shared More Than Equations......Page 100
Sinfully Amusing Snippets......Page 102
Infamous Female Spies......Page 104
Facts on Harems......Page 107
Original Cities of Sin (None of Which Had Elvis Impersonators)......Page 109
Self-proclaimed Casanovas......Page 111
So-called Virtuous Figures Who Got Caught with Their Flies Down (or Skirts Up)......Page 113
Presidential Affairs (Cigar Not Included)......Page 114
Victorian Tricks for Restraining That Mojo......Page 117
Royal Mistresses Who Made Good......Page 119
Risqué Ad Campaigns That Got Canned......Page 121
Crazy Historical Trades for Brides......Page 123
Historical Dudes with Lots of Illegitimate Children......Page 125
Famous People Who Died in the Act......Page 127
World's Strangest Aphrodisiacs......Page 129
Historical Eloping Tales......Page 131
Greatest Syphilitics of All Time......Page 132
Not-So-Straitlaced Reformers of Victorian Times......Page 135
Artists Who Did More Than Portray Their Models......Page 137
Divinity School Dropouts......Page 139
Portraits of Artists as Young Perverts......Page 141
Sex Rumors About Royalty......Page 144
Envy......Page 147
People Admired for Their Jail Time......Page 148
Sets of Mismatched Siblings......Page 150
Famous People Who Had Famous Heroes......Page 153
National Inferiority Complexes and the Wars They Caused......Page 155
Well-spread Fabrications......Page 157
Showy Leaders and the Envious Imitators They Inspired......Page 159
Grossly Mismatched Warfare Arsenals......Page 161
Geniuses and 1 Entire Science That Never Won the Big One......Page 163
Tiny Nations That Were Happy to Colonize Africa......Page 166
Musicians Who Always Felt Cheated......Page 167
Men Who Tried to Outdo Their Dads......Page 170
Women Who Disguised Themselves as Men to Succeed......Page 172
Early Middle East Conflicts......Page 174
Feuds Steeped in Jealousy......Page 175
Infamous Second-place Finishers Who Never Got the Spotlight......Page 178
Famously Jealous Politicians......Page 180
Gluttony......Page 183
Unusual Food Competitions......Page 184
Delicious Animals We Charbroiled into Extinction—and 1 That Tasted Nasty but We Killed It Anyway......Page 186
Most Excessive Weddings in History......Page 188
Facts about Roman Excess......Page 190
Diets to Avoid: Religious Councils through the Ages......Page 192
Delicacies That Make You Gag......Page 193
Facts on Cannibalism......Page 196
Deaths of Famous People Caused by Overindulgence in Drugs, Drink, or Dessert......Page 198
Monarchs Who Tipped the Scales......Page 200
Fads from the Slimming Fashion Industry......Page 201
Plants Known to Cause Hysteria......Page 204
World's Oddest Cuisines......Page 206
Dictators with Infamous Sweet Tooths......Page 208
Servings of Swine: The Worst Pork Barrel Politics Revealed......Page 210
Myths from Other Cultures about Gods’ Strange Eating Habits......Page 212
Pioneers of All-You-Can-Eat......Page 215
Crazy Diets from Crazy Times......Page 217
Presidents Who Overindulged......Page 218
Deadly Digestive Problems......Page 220
Philosophers Who Liked to Get Groovy Thoughts......Page 222
Wrath......Page 225
X-treme (Aggressive) Sports You Haven’t Heard About......Page 226
Best Tales of Revenge Taken by Scorned Women......Page 228
Gangsters Who Earned Their Names......Page 231
Angry Queens......Page 233
Trials or Cases Where Reason Was Turned Upside Down......Page 235
Deities with Anger Management Problems......Page 237
Armies Hopped Up on Goofballs......Page 239
Historical Bar Brawls......Page 241
Prophets on the Edge......Page 243
Close Calls in the Nuclear Age......Page 245
Charming Episodes of Violence from Medieval Iceland......Page 248
Dictators Who Worked Their Way to the Top......Page 250
War, What Is It Good For? Well, Things, Actually......Page 252
Angry Authors and Even Angrier Critics......Page 253
Natural Disasters Explained......Page 256
Leaders Who Murdered Family Members to Get Ahead......Page 259
Animals Subject to ’Roid Rage......Page 260
Gods of War......Page 263
Historical Figures Who Struck Back with a Vengeance......Page 265
Wars Waged on Familial Insults......Page 266
Sloth......Page 269
Go-getters Who Found Time to Nap......Page 270
Inventions Better Than the Remote......Page 272
Famous Cases of Plagiarism......Page 274
Cats Who Lay Down on the Job But Got Things Done Anyway......Page 275
Artists Who Bowed to Beer Pressure......Page 277
Lazily Designed Landmarks......Page 279
World Leaders Who Accomplished Absolutely Nothing......Page 282
Famous Journalistic Goofs That Could Have Been Avoided......Page 284
Laziest Kings of All Time......Page 286
Dates That History Misplaced......Page 288
Famous Tunes Stolen from Other Tunes......Page 290
Delinquent Rock Groups and the Chaos They Stirred......Page 292
Famous Figures Who Never Held (Real) Day Jobs......Page 294
Bad Nights of Sleep That Led to Drastic Mistakes......Page 295
Laziest Flag Designs......Page 297
Warning Calls History Ignored......Page 299
Figures Who Claimed Someone Else’s Fame......Page 301
Index......Page 303
Acknowledgments......Page 315
About the Editors......Page 316
About the Contributors......Page 317
Also from mental_floss:......Page 319
Credits......Page 320
Copyright Notice......Page 321
About the Perfectbound......Page 322